Hello everyone! I have two angle fish that my wife bought about 18 months ago and were told that they were a male and female...not necessarily paired. I didn't know anything about angels then so we took the guys word. Now I've researched sexing angelfish, and have come to the conclution that either I have two males, or that I can't tell their gender. Can anyone identify what gender(s) my 2 fish are based upon my attached pictures? I would really appreshiate it.
Who Can Identify The Gender Of These Two Angel Fish?
The April FOTM Contest Poll is open!
🏆 Click to vote! 🏆
Very nice angels
.
I think the only sure fire way of sexing angels is when they are ready to breed and the female develops the egg tube. Both fish will develop tubes but the females one will be rounded and cylindrical like an eraser on the end of a pencil, while a males will be thin and pointed. Angels seem to be able to tell each other apart just fine and that's why many people buy a group of young ones and wait to see who pairs up.
I think the only sure fire way of sexing angels is when they are ready to breed and the female develops the egg tube. Both fish will develop tubes but the females one will be rounded and cylindrical like an eraser on the end of a pencil, while a males will be thin and pointed. Angels seem to be able to tell each other apart just fine and that's why many people buy a group of young ones and wait to see who pairs up.
Hi, there is a trick involving the head shape but it's far from exact. I can normally get a rough idea as some angels have obvious signs. The obvious sign is a nuchal hump (a bump that appears on the top of the head as they mature) ... these only generally occur in males. They also often occur with a large protruding chest aswell. My male is a perfect example of this. He has a very large nuchal hump and a protruding chest ... he's an obvious boy.
The female head shape has one smooth curve and this takes practice to work out. As the others have said the only true way to sex an angel is to wait until they are ready to breed when the tubes descend.
Going by your photographs and the head shape I would say the angel in the first photo could be male. There looks to be the very beginnings of a nuchal hump if that continues to grow then you can pretty much guarentee he's a boy.
The angel in the 2nd photo also does not have a smooth curved head shape and there's a chance that is also male but only time will tell.
What ever their sex you have a pair of very beautiful angels - they look to be platinum pearlscale and the slight pinkness could point to some albino in there genetics. Good luck with them
The female head shape has one smooth curve and this takes practice to work out. As the others have said the only true way to sex an angel is to wait until they are ready to breed when the tubes descend.
Going by your photographs and the head shape I would say the angel in the first photo could be male. There looks to be the very beginnings of a nuchal hump if that continues to grow then you can pretty much guarentee he's a boy.
The angel in the 2nd photo also does not have a smooth curved head shape and there's a chance that is also male but only time will tell.
What ever their sex you have a pair of very beautiful angels - they look to be platinum pearlscale and the slight pinkness could point to some albino in there genetics. Good luck with them
I agree with Akasha you can often see a thickening of skin on the "forehead" of males It is hard to notice as people are trying too young. The other thing that can help is signs of a thickening of the ventral fins (the long ones at the front)
Now in the picture above, the one on the left looks to have a male head shape but thinner ventral fins than I would expect. Then the one on the right seems to have an unusual head shape which could be female but the bit at the top makes me think its a sub male - as their ventral fins thicker than the one on the left... Initially looking at the picture I did think that the one on the left was male and the right was female.
So... yeah not really much help but hopefully as they mature over the next few months it will become more obvious.
Wills
It is hard to notice as people are trying too young. The other thing that can help is signs of a thickening of the ventral fins (the long ones at the front)Now in the picture above, the one on the left looks to have a male head shape but thinner ventral fins than I would expect. Then the one on the right seems to have an unusual head shape which could be female but the bit at the top makes me think its a sub male - as their ventral fins thicker than the one on the left... Initially looking at the picture I did think that the one on the left was male and the right was female.
So... yeah not really much help but hopefully as they mature over the next few months it will become more obvious.
Wills
My male is sat at the front so I've just taken a photo which shows the nuchal hump and enlarged chest in it's full glory
I'm told by an angelfish breeder that his hump is to extreems ... it's very enlarged and it is normal in those cases to see an enlarged chest too
I'm told by an angelfish breeder that his hump is to extreems ... it's very enlarged and it is normal in those cases to see an enlarged chest too
I've had a lot of angels over the years, Akasha, and that's the malest male I've ever seen!
We wouldn't have a problem sexing, if they all developed like him, would we?!
We wouldn't have a problem sexing, if they all developed like him, would we?!
:O what is that fish on! It looks like it has a gym membership and drinks protein shakes! That is the butchest male I have ever seen!! Are you sure he is not crossed with a Flowerhorn?
Thanks for the help everyone, especially Asteria, for the comparison pictures and Akasha 72 for her insight and picture of hers. I definetly think that I have two males, they both look like they have the male tubes (the female tubes look like they are hard to miss). We've had them for about 18 months and we bought them at the size they are (they are about the size of my palm).
My neighbor has a single female (we know because she has laid eggs before), maybe I'll stud one of mine out to him and we can be certin; lord knows my neighbor is more extreme than I am at keeping his tank pristine.
My neighbor has a single female (we know because she has laid eggs before), maybe I'll stud one of mine out to him and we can be certin; lord knows my neighbor is more extreme than I am at keeping his tank pristine.
that's my boy .... he's definitely a boy!! At first I was worried about his chest cos my female kept pecking at his head and chest and I thought it was swollen cos of her. I asked on the angelfish forum that I'm also a member of and the breeder there confirmed that he's fine. Sometimes you get males like this, it's not common but it's still normal
Krut ... I'm about 70% sure you have two males but only time will tell for certain. As for 'studding one out' - it doesn't work like that with angels. Angels, like all cichlids, need to choose their own mate. My boy was in with 3 girls and chose his mate - thankfully the other smokey blushing which was what I wanted. If they are a forced match it can go wrong - to the extreems of one fish getting killed by the other. I'd be very wary of trying to introduce your fish to your neighbours. I've seen angelfish aggression and it's brutal
Krut ... I'm about 70% sure you have two males but only time will tell for certain. As for 'studding one out' - it doesn't work like that with angels. Angels, like all cichlids, need to choose their own mate. My boy was in with 3 girls and chose his mate - thankfully the other smokey blushing which was what I wanted. If they are a forced match it can go wrong - to the extreems of one fish getting killed by the other. I'd be very wary of trying to introduce your fish to your neighbours. I've seen angelfish aggression and it's brutal
Agreed!Akasha72 said:
My mum and I tried to pair up our angels, which are confirmed male and female, as we've seen their breeding tubes. They both went, at the same time, into a completely new-to-them tank, so neither had any kind of territory, but my male took an instant dislike to my mum's female, and chased her all over the tank. Eventually he chased her under the heater and didn't let her out for half an hour.
We admitted defeat and separated them at that point, as the poor female was in obvious distress.
after my two paired up and started to breed I set them up a seperate tank and moved them in. It didn't work out so I tried to move them both back to my main tank which still contained the two spare female angels. One of the spare females had decided in the time the other two were away that she was the boss of the tank now and so when I tried to introduce my pair back she went mental. She had murder in her eyes. I tried everything to stop her but she set about my pair like a banshee. In the end I had to catch her and the other spare female, bag them both up, and take them to my lfs for them to re-home. Very upsetting to watch
As my son often points out, 'angel' fish is a terrible misnomer; they're not in the least bit angelic!
I had a mated pair at one point, who fell out really badly; I caught my male dragging the female round the tank by her dorsal fin
I had a mated pair at one point, who fell out really badly; I caught my male dragging the female round the tank by her dorsal fin
Most reactions
-
289 -
230 -
159 -
147 -
139 -
132 -
125 -
119 -
115 -
99 -
89 -
85 -
78 -
72 -
65
